President Biden spent Christmas Eve signing new bills into law approving everything from the country’s official bird to protections for children in youth care facilities.
Here are a few of the most pressing pieces of holiday legislation:
Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act
Celebrity singer and actress Paris Hilton has spent months pushing for a federal law that will hold treatment centers and care facilities serving youth accountable. She made frequent appearances on Capitol Hill to encourage lawmakers to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act in the House and Senate.
December proved to be a fruitful month as the Senate unanimously approved the measure and the House voted 367 to 33, sending the bill to President Biden’s desk. He signed the act into law on Tuesday, securing a political victory for Hilton, who expressed potential interest in serving as an elected official.
Stop Campus Hazing Act
Biden also passed a law that creates disclosure regulations for federally funded higher learning institutions, requiring them to include reports involving campus hazing in their annual security report. The bill was sponsored by Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) in the House in addition to Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.).
Hazing is frequently discovered to be part of college pledging processes for on-campus fraternities and sororities. More than half of college students are involved in some form of campus hazing, according to North Carolina State University.
Post office designations
The president signed two bills renaming local postal offices to honor community leaders in the state of Texas and California.
The site at 1106 Main St. in Bastrop, Texas, is now the Sergeant Major Billy D. Waugh Post Office in honor of a CIA intelligence officer and Army soldier who served the country for more than five decades.
Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) sponsored the legislation.
San Francisco will rename a post office in honor of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), thanks to a bill sponsored by Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.).
Federal building renamings
Biden signed several bills to rename federal buildings. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) community clinic in Lynchburg, Va., will now be known as the Private First Class Desmond T. Doss VA Clinic.
The medical center of the VA in Tulsa, Okla., was renamed after the late Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.). Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) sponsored the bill.
The late Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) also earned a special honor at the Fort McHenry National Historic Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Md., as the Paul S. Sarbanes Visitor and Education Center will become his namesake.
The effort was sponsored by the senator’s son, Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.), along with the state’s congressional delegation.
U.S. official bird
While the bald eagle has long been the unofficial mascot of the U.S., Biden signed the first legislation to make that official on Christmas Eve.
The Biden administration also pumped out last-minute surprises, including pardons for federal death row inmates, throughout the course of his last month in office. He will transfer the commander in chief role to President-elect Trump in January.
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